Ruud lifts Zeus Trophy at Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes

Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud won his first-ever UTS title in front of a UTS record crowd of 12,500 at the Bastide Médical UTS Nîmes in the historic Arena de Nimes.

He ended the incredible seven-match unbeaten streak of Tomas “Air Machete” Machac, who made his UTS debut in Guadalajara earlier in the year, where he won the title.

With a 12-13, 16-14, 15-14, 15-11 victory, Ruud now has 14 UTS match wins to his name – the most ever, tied with Andrey “Rublo” Rublev.

He lifted the iconic Zeus trophy in front of the cheering fans, who were vocal throughout the day, enjoying top-class tennis as well as gorgeous weather; indeed, beaten semi-finalist Rublev had said earlier: “It’s an amazing feeling that today was completely full, and it’s something special.”

And the fans were also treated to an exciting announcement as Patrick Mouratoglou, founder of UTS, and Michael Cheng, president of the HKC Tennis Association, revealed that the UTS Tour will make a stop in Hong Kong in October.

The semi-finals

Both semi-finals had gone to sudden death after enthrallingly close encounters.

Machac dropped one match point against Alex “The Demon” de Minaur, but ultimately came through 12-13, 12-11, 6-20, 17-13, 2-1 – completing his seventh win in a row in UTS, the best-ever debut to life on the tour.

“I think I had many, many chances. I just didn’t play the important points well today, and that was the difference,” said De Minaur.

And despite Rublev’s resurgence from a two-quarter deficit, Ruud triumphed 14-11, 17-8, 13-15, 12-18, 3-2.

“We played a good match. I was able to come back. I had my chances. I didn’t make them, and in the end, he had his chance,” Rublev said afterwards.

Classification matches

The four players who had been eliminated in Friday’s quarter-finals also took to the court in classification matches.

At the start of play, Alexei “The Sniper” Popyrin beat Ben “The Mountain” Shelton 15-9, 16-14, 14-13.

The Sniper was quick to thank the crowd for their support, saying: “That’s something that us tennis players, we just love, and we really appreciate it when there’s such high energy and and the crowd seems like they’re enjoying it. The format gives that vibe to the crowd also. They engage more in the matches, and it’s just super fun to be able to play in front of them and put on the show for them.”

And in a rowdy warm-up for the final, the crowd enjoyed an all-French encounter between Gael “La Monf” Monfils and Ugo “The Commander” Humbert. La Monf, always the showman, played an unorthodox return in the third quarter, using his forehead to nod it over the net.

The younger man won the match in sudden death, but the highlight was indisputably the crowd’s acapella rendition of La Marseillaise – during which both players headed to the net, wrapped their arms around each other, and joined in the singing.

Results

Final

Ruud 12-13, 16-14, 15-14, 15-11 Machac

Semi-finals

Machac 12-13, 12-11, 6-20, 17-13, 2-1 De Minaur

Ruud 14-11, 17-8, 13-15, 12-18, 3-2 Rublev

Classification matches

Popyrin 15-9, 16-14, 14-13 Shelton

Humbert 12-19, 17-13, 19-6, 11-16, 2-0 Monfils